Bass Fishing in the Big Bend

Many sites throughout the big bend provide good bass fishing at a variety of water bodies from large rivers like the Apalachicola, small rivers like the Ochlochonee, and spring rivers like the Wakulla, Wacissa, Aucilla, St. Marks and others.  Additionally, there are many private man-made ponds and small natural lakes surrounded by private property with no public access that have produced many huge bass. 

If you can get into some of these, you can have some great fishing because they are carefully managed to ensure a good fishery. These include many sites from farm ponds to lakes like McBride. Then, there are the big natural lakes like Miccosukee and big man-made lakes like Talquin, both of which have had bass fisheries that are hard to beat in the past.

If there seems to be something missing at this point, it’s because Lake Jackson has not been mentioned. This lake has got to be one of the very best that has ever existed. If it’s not, I’d like to find those that are.

The numbers of huge bass caught in Lake Jackson in the 1960s and 1970s are almost unbelievable. One of the main reasons that the lake has been so productive is because of the periodic natural draw-down. This is a locally known phenomenon of the lake’s water disappearing into an opened sink hole about every 25 years, then returning at some unpredictable time that has been recorded to be from a few months to several years.

A commonly used fisheries management tool is the man-induced draw-down of lakes and ponds. Most of the time this is not feasible on large natural systems. But, Lake Jackson is fortunate to have mother nature handle this task. The de-watering of a lake allows for rapid oxidation of accumulated organic matter on the lake’s bottom and the growth of terrestrial vegetation, both of which contribute to an improved fishery upon the return of the water. The build-up of organic substrate results from the continual sloughing of aquatic plant material and the inflow of contaminated run-off. The oxidation or physical removal of this material helps the fish by eliminating this source of oxygen depletion and re-establishing the sandy spawning areas required by Centrarchids (the Sunfishes i.e.bream and bass). The growth of terrestrial vegetation provides a nutrient source that is released into the water column when the lake refills and kills the terrestrial plants that cannot tolerate inundation. Those nutrients are the basis of the food chain that begins with the plankton that feed on them.

Immediately following the disappearance of Lake Jackson’s water in September of 1999, local government agencies cooperated to implement a plan to help restore the lake by physically removing the huge quantities of muck that had accumulated as a result of surrounding development, particularly the construction of I-10 and the Tallahassee Mall. More than $8 million was spent on this project that paid for trucks to haul millions of cubic yards of this sediment from the bottom of the lake.

The water has now returned, so the natural draw-down lasted almost two years this time. I recently asked the state geologists about the expected fate of the lake following its refilling from the heavy rains from the season’s first two tropical storms. They said that the hole is still open and draining, but they expect the lake to remain filled until the next major drought. They contend that the open Porter Sink drains 15 million gallons of water per day, and the normal daily inflow from average rainfall in the surrounding watershed far exceeds that amount.

I also called the Assistant Director of Freshwater Fisheries of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to find out their plans for re-stocking the lake and managing it in the future. At this point there is no plan to re-stock the lake, but that may be the best scenario in the long run for a healthy fishery. Why? Because of Lake Jackson’s unique ability to produce many huge fish, it is probably best to not dilute that unique gene pool through stocking. Spawning was observed this past spring in the pools that remained throughout the drought. So, natural recruitment will occur rapidly.

The only remaining issue to be addressed to ensure another magnificent fishery in Lake Jackson in the near future is the regulation of fish harvesting. Unfortunately, after spending all that money to remove the muck, the main ingredient for a good fishery may again be ignored. The absolute most important factor to ensure a good fishery is to not take the fish out of the system, whether salt or fresh water. In addition to that being obvious through common sense analysis, the scientific data have proven it time and time again. Additionally, there is other proof such as the highly lauded fishery at places like Bienville Plantation where there is no allowed harvest of largemouth bass.

Upon discussion of this issue with the FWC staff, they indicated that agency management is receptive to establishing a catch-and-release management policy for Lake Jackson, but they will never do such a thing without strong public support. The reason is that the traditional fisherman does not understand the scientific or the common sense reasoning for a catch-and- release fishery, or he/she is selfishly apathetic and wants to just get what they can while they can. That is the mentality that must be altered if we are going to have any quality of life on a planet with 6 billion people and a rapidly increasing population. So, let the FWC know that you support a catch-and-release fishery for Lake Jackson so that there will be fishing in Lake Jackson’s future like there was before it was destroyed through legal over-harvesting.